“Safety cars, red flags create entertainment”: Mercedes boss has no problem with F1 Sprint race in Azerbaijan

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes the F1 sprint adds a lot of entertainment to a circuit like Baku. Speaking to on-site media, including Sportskeeda, the Austrian felt that the format could be calibrated further and needs to be reviewed after the Azerbaijan GP.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the F1 sprint format was appropriate for the Baku circuit, Wolff said:

“I think it makes [things] more entertaining. We’ve seen that safety cars and even red flags create quite some entertainment. They need to be handled with care because the sport should never become a circus. But I think we need to calibrate ourselves well, therefore on street circuits, yes - it gives more opportunities in a sprint race than if you have it on another one.

"It’s too short to play strategies, it’s too short that the tyres give up. I’m fine. But we need to assess the whole weekend Sunday night and the following days. Is it, was the format good, do we need to tweak it here and there to extract the best job?”

Commenting further on the F1 sprint format, the Mercedes boss said:

“I think we wanted to see how it works. It was a quick shot. We agreed to the regulatory changes that were necessary, but it was also common acknowledgement that we need to see what it does, what is the right thing.”

He added:

“We can always change it. There are at least 10 more stupid things that Formula 1 had done in the time I’ve been here, with format changes. So it is about considering whether it works or not.”

The new F1 sprint format has drawn diverse opinions in the paddock from drivers and teams. Wolff feels it is better at a circuit like Baku rather than the others. While the opportunities for strategic moves were few in the race, the Mercedes chief felt it could be tweaked, assessed and reviewed further.

He believes that it can be changed in the future as all teams agreed upon this format and want to see if it works.

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Mercedes boss believes that commercial value is important for the sport when it comes to the F1 sprint

F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan - Sprint

Toto Wolff feels that confusion is always a risk when introducing new formats like the sprint for the 2023 season. However, the Mercedes boss highlighted that it added commercial value with more live audiences for the sport.

Asked about the late announcement of the format and confusion for the fans, Wolff said:

“I think the risk is there is always confusion. Are the other sessions at the right time? Are we over saturating it with too many races? Are we undermining the Grand Prix? On the other side we put more spectators for the promoter and the live audiences here on Friday and Saturday. That’s an advantage.

"You are going to have audiences obviously over TV with two races, and audiences are important commercially as well. If it is an entertaining [thing], then we should do it. But it is not an easy call. I think it was good that we all agreed to do it, and to analyse what is positive and what is negative.”

Asked by Sportskeeda whether points being awarded would make it more interesting, Wolff replied:

“I think maybe we can look at that. The old format, or with the final position in the sprint race is starting position, that could be made interesting. But then you are lacking one of those interesting sessions. I don’t know why it’s not clear. If it was upto me, I would stay where we are. But I’m open minded for innovation.”

Apart from one red flag brought out by Yuki Tsunoda in the sprint, the 17 laps did not produce much value for the on-track action. The order in the front almost remained the same, while there was action P8 and downwards, without any reward.

The points for the F1 sprint are awarded to the top 8 instead of the top 10 which often makes it pointless for the rest of the grid.